I smoked over a pack a day for 15 years and got really overweight. Now I'm an endurance junkie with lots of marathons, century rides, half and full ironmans, and ultramarathons under my belt. Check back often to watch the progress from smoking 26.2 cigarettes a day to running 26.2 miles, or from Iron Lung to Ironman.

Monday, August 29, 2011

The Dissapearing Weekend

Why do these things have to go by so fast? It's a crime, really.

Hurricane Irene came and went here in Raleigh without much fanfare. It was cloudy, cold, and rainy all day long. Out on the coast got hit much harder than we did. Highway 12 that runs through the Outer Banks got washed out pretty hard. I'm hoping that this won't mess up the bike or run courses for the OBX Half Ironman I've got coming up in 11 days. From what I can tell on the course maps and satellite images, I don't think anything is messed up there. But I know a lot of races were cancelled this weekend, hope you guys got through this as easily as we did.

I threw the bike up on the trainer and rode for 2.5 hours after Kelley got back from her 6 miler on the treadmill. Die hard was on cable, so I was entertained. That was all.

Sunday was hot again (stupid august), but not as bad as it had been. So we took the kids for a picnic in the park and let them play around outside for a while. There was some tree limbs down at the park, but nothing major. The city recently finished construction on this one park that we wanted to check out next to the Rose Garden, and they had put up a kid's rock climbing station! I was way more excited about this than the kids were. The top of the rock was about 9' high, filled with hand and foot holds, perfect for kids climbing. It was really cool, so of course the girls didn't want anything to do with it and were scared of the height. Bigun and I finally got to have a little fun on it, but she wouldn't climb the tall faces. Even had some cool inversions.

After we got out of there, Kelley and I found a Keva Juice and we tried wheatgrass shots for the first time! We've been wanting to try these for a while just to see what the energy and our perceived blood oxygen levels. It was incredible. Tasted like I was cutting the grass. I think we're going to start working in some wheatgrass more often.

Got home just in time for me to hit the gym and squeeze out my 14 mile run before they closed up. It felt great, I did the entire thing at a 7.5 mph (8:00 pace) speed and had plenty of gas in the tank for more, even though I only took one gel. Great long run, especially after last weekend's disaster outdoor attempt at 13. Ironman build is in full swing. Time to rock and roll!

I'm thinking about doing a series of posts about how I got fast. Does that seem to have any value?

About Me

I am a sterotype living Raleigh, NC with the wife and 2 kids. 40+, endurance junkie with a penchant for marathons, trail, and triathlon races. It keeps me smoke free and happy. I also enjoy organic gardening and healthy eating, and work as a software developer.